Adjustable propeller



Aug. 24; 1937. 'c DASCANIQ 2,091,029

ADJUSTABLE PROPELLER Filed July 18, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Aug. 24, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE rnorauna Corradino DAscanio, Genoa, Italy, assignor to Piaggio & 00., Soc. An., Genoa, Italy, a Jointstock company of Italy Application July 18, 1934, Serial No. 735,734

- ,In Italy June 12, 1934 4 Claims. (01. 170-163) The objectof the present invention is to produce an adjustable propeller for airplanes and the like provided with two blades, the pitch of which can be altered at will during flight. My

6 invention is characterized by certain innovations More particularly the said innovations and de-- tails of construction forming the principal characteristics of the present invention, consist in that the hub carries, two or more sleeves, one for 18 each blade, for attaching the blades thereto, within which sleeves are inserted the spindles of the blades, to the ends of which a holding member'is screwed, the said member being connected to its corresponding sleeve by means of suitable m bearings or ball races, so that the blade, although free to turn round its longitudinal axis for the variation of the pitch, remainslocked to the hub in the longitudinal or radial direction.

The rotary movement of the blades is obtained 25 by means of a stem integral with the said member, which is connected by means of connecting rods, to a centralmember, adapted to slide axially on a suitable bearing. This central sliding member is caused to move under the action of a screw 30 fixed axially to the bearing, and connected to suitable gearings operated by the rotation of the hub, the control of the movement of turning of the blades round their own axes being effected by means of a friction brake controlled by the pilot,

5 said brake acting on one of the elements of the gearing. I

Another object of this invention is to insure the automatic unlocking of the pitch gear mechanism, said unlocking being effected by the tum- 40 'ing-movement of the blades round their own axes when they have reached the end positions of the angular movement allowed to them.

Another feature of this invention has reference to the hub, and consists in a device adapted to transmit to the control board or to any other convenient place, the'indication of the incidence of the blades, said device consisting ina system of gearings connected with the variable pitch gearing above referred. to. The said transmitted 50 indications give only the diflerential displacement between the position of the element arrested by the control brake, and that of the element geared with it, connected to the variable pitch gear.

55 Other particular features of the hub for air propellers according to this invention, will appear from the following description and the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated schematically on the annexed drawings, on which: 5 Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the hub in a plane normal to the axis of the blades Fig. 2 shows the same hub in side view, partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a section through the automatic unlockl ing control device;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, drawn to a a larger scale, showing the brake mechanism for stopping the movement of one of the parts of the gearing;

' Fig. 5 is a sectional view, on an enlarged scale,

of the device for reproducing on the control board the indication of the angular positions of the blades.

The hub as shown, is formed by a main body I provided in its inner central part with a housing 2 adapted for inserting the hub on the motor head,

"two or more sleeves 3 being provided, one at each side of the hub, for the attachment therein of the propeller blades.

The stem 4 of each blade is screwed to a hold! 1mg member 5, and is kept locked thereon by the threaded bush 6 which is providedwith a conical seating forcibly bearing against the conical collar 1 of the blade stem 4.

, The holding member 5 is provided externally with suitable recesses for receiving therein the ball races 8 and 9.

The member 5 is also provided at the centre of its bottom end with a suitable housing for the bearing it, which is fitted at the end of the arm ll integral with the central body I. V

A suitable threaded ring l2, screwed into the sleeve 3, serves to fix tightly, through the said ball races 8 and 9, the member I, and consequently the stem 4 of the corresponding blade,

to the said sleeve.

The blade connected to the hub in the manner above described is thus rigidly inserted into the hub, although it may turn freely round the axis of the ball races.

The centrifugal force is transmitted through the race 8 tothe ring I! and then on the sleeve 3, while the torque. set up by the aerodynamical reactions on the blades is also transmitted on to the sleeve 3 through the system of the two races a I and 9, and of the thrust bearing Ill. y The holding member iicarries, eccentrically in respect to its axis, a rib II, with a pivot l4 at its end, on which is pivoted the end of a connecting rod ii, the other end of which is connected, 56

through another pivot |6, to a suitable arm (one for each blade) of the sliding member l1, adapted to slide axially, being guided inside suitable housings provided in the central bearing l8.

Upon the said central bearing l8, which is connected to the central body of thehub is fixed an end thrust bearing l9, on which is fixed the upper end of a screw 28. This screw passes through the sliding member l1, through the nut integral with it.

Said screw 20 carries keyed to its end a bevel wheel 2|, which engages with another bevel wheel 22 suitably the wheel 22 is rigidly connected to the helicoidal 'wheel 23, which meshes with the endless screw 24.

The screw 24 is keyed at the end of a thin shaft 25, which, by the interposition of the coupling 26, hereinafter described, and through the thin shaft 21, disposed in alignment to the shaft 25, takes up the movement on the rear part of the hub by means of the pinion 28. This pinion 28 meshes with a crown wheel 29 provided internally with teeth, and with the wheel 38, both these latter being supported coaxially with the central body of the hub.

Both the crown wheel 29 and the wheel 38 are provided with suitable annular projections or ribs, adapted to receive the slidingpressure of the brake blocks 3| and 32, which blocks are actuated by the arms 33 and by the lever 35 controlled by the pilot, so that the latter can apply the brake and stop the movement of one of the wheels 29 or 39 above mentioned.

By rotating the hub round its axis, after stopping of the crown wheel 29 or the wheel 38 as described, the pinion 28 is caused to rotate round the wheel which has been stopped.

This rolling of the pinion 28 causes the rotation of the shaft 21 on which it is fixed, and consequently also the rotation, in either direction, of the gear formed by the screw 24, the wheels 23,.22, and 2|, and consequently the turning, in either direction, of the propeller blades round their own axes.

In order to provide for the automatic unlocking of the system of gearings operating the movement of the blades, 8. coupling 28 is inserted, as already mentioned, between the shafts 25 and 21. This coupling is formed as follows:

Two ratchet wheels 38 and 31 are mounted rigidly on the shaft 25. These wheels each have their teeth oriented in the opposite direction to the other,.and the correspondingpawls 38 and 39 of these wheels are pivoted on a suitable support 49 integral with the shaft 21. The said pawls with respect to their axes of rotation, are heavier externally thereto, and abutting slightly outside of the periphery of the support 40; consequently, under the action of the centrifugal force, the said pawls have a tendency to remain always in engagement with the respective tooth on the ratchet wheels thus permitting the normal transmission of the movement in either direction, from the shaft 21 to the shaft 25; externally with respect to the support 48 is placed the clutch 28, which, in addition to its movement of rotation together with the ratchet mechanism above described, may also have an axial movement. On the said clutch 26, suitable abutments are provided, which serve to support the end 4| of one of the pivots l4, when the blade has reached the endposition of a given angular displacement; if the blade should continue to turn round its axis after passing the said end position,

supported by the central body;

the end 4| will displace in its movement, in either direction, the piece 26, which, because of its special internal cam construction, will cause either one or the other of the pawls 38 or 39 to become disconnected from the respective wheels 31 and 38, thus causing the blades to be released in the direction in which the unlocking of the shaft 25 from the shaft 21 has occurred; in the opposite direction'however the interlocking between the two shafts 25 and 21 still operates, and thus it is possible to turn theblades in the other direction.

In order to reproduce on the control board in front of the pilot the exact indication of the angular position of the blades, and consequently also the amount of their pitch, the following device is provided:

On the periphery of the annular ribs of the crown wheel 29 and the wheel 30, teeth are provided, two toothed pinions 42 and 43 meshing .thereon, each of which is rigidly connected respectively tothe short co-axial shafts 44 and 45.

These short shafts carry at their ends two pinions 48 and 41, respectively. Pinion 41 meshes with the toothed wheel 48 rotatable on the pivot 49 fixed to the casing 59, while the pinion 48 ..-meshes with the toothed wheel 5| rotatable round a pivot 52 fixed to the arm 53 of shaft 54.

Both the wheel 48 and the wheel 5| mesh externally with a pair of crown wheels 55 and 58.

The various ratios of transmission of the gearing of this group are so adjusted that, when the two wheels 29 and 38 rotate at the same speed, that is to say, when the pitch actuating mechanism is not in operation, the peripheral speeds of the pinion 48 and of the lower crown wheel 58 are identical and in opposite directions, and consequently both the pivot 52, and the short shaft 54 fixed to it through its arm 53, remain inactive.

When the control of the system of the variation of the pitch is operated, by the stopping of one of the wheels 29 or 38, as above described, the stoppage of one of the pinions 41 or '48 is effected, causing the pivot 52 and shaft 54 to rotate with a differential movement, and it is clear that the number of revolutions effected by shaft 54 will prove to be always proportional to the number of revolutions .of shaft 25, and consequently also to the variation of the pitch.

The rotations above described may be transmitted either directly, or by an endless screw 51 meshing with a helicoidal wheel 58 as shown by way of example, and by means of a flexible shaft 59, or any other suitable means, to the control board in front of the pilot, where on a dial 8!! of any convenient shape, the pilot can ascertain the-position of the pitch of the blades by the indication of the index finger 8| on the said dial.

Stops 82 and 83 provided on the dial 60, limit the displacement of the index finger 8|, in correspondence with the two extreme positions of the blades pitch, at which positions the automatic unlocking between the shafts 21 and 25 has occurred; but as the index finger is mounted on its spindle by frictional contact, it remains steady on the dial in the same way as the blade in respect to its axis of rotation, even when the control by the pilot continues in the same direction.

I claim: Y

1. In a hub for airplane or similar propellers having a plurality of blades, sleeves integral with the hub adapted to receive the spindles of the blades so as to permit their turning about their longitudinal axes for the variation of pitch, a the rotation of either said toothed crown-wheel holding member for the spindle of each blade, a or said second toothed wheel to thereby enable sliding 1 member mounted on the hub in axial said gearings to be operated by the rotation 01' adapted to displace said sliding member, gearof toothed wheels for proportionally transmitings operated by the rotation of the hub for actuting to the index member of said indicating deating said displacing means, a coupling included vice the angular movements of the blades.

in said gearings comprising tworatchet-wheels 3. The combination as specified in claim 1, in-

having oppositely directed teeth'and pawls adapteluding a conical seating element secured to said 10 ed to be engaged by centrifugal action, and means holding member, an abutment on the stem of the intermediate .said coupling and the blades to. blade in forcible engagement with said seating cause the automatic disengagement of one of element, a thrust-ball race bearing received' in a said pawls from its ratchet wheels through the recess of said holding member being supported movement of the blades upon the latter reaching by a shoulder thereof, a smaller counter-ball'race 15 the end positions of their angular displacement. in opposition to said thrust-ball race so as to 2. In a hub for airplane orsimilar propellers secure tight fitting of said holding member havin a pl r y f bl d Sle v s in ral wi h and oppose the torque produced by the resultant e ub ap d o receive he Sp n s 0f he of the aerodynamic forces acting on the blades,

ades so as to permit their, turning about their and a third intermediate thrust ball race adapted 20 longitudinal axes for the variation of their pitch, to oppose the axial thrust caused by the cena holding member for the spindle of each blade, trifugal force, and a suitable arm on said holding a sliding member mounted on the hub in axial member adapted to be operatively connected with sliding relation thereto, means connecting said said sliding member.

holding member to said sliding member, a means 4. The combination as specified in claim 1,in- 2 adapted to displace said sliding member for efeluding means for locking the blade to thehub,

fecting the variation of the pitch of the blades, comprising a large and a smaller ball bearing gearings adapted to be operated by the rotation disposed in said holding member in opposition of the hub for actuating saiddisplacing'means, to each other, a radial thrust ball bearing disa device for indicating on the control board the posed intermediate said first two ball bearings 30 angular positions of the blades, said device comin operative relation to these bearings, being fitted prising a toothed crown wheel, a second toothed in a suitable annular housing provided in the wheel, pinions meshing with said wheels, two central part of said holding member, an annular coaxial shafts carrying said pinions, a casing abutment on the holding member, and a thread-.- having said two coaxial shafts journalled thereed ring screwed to said sleeve for holding between in, pinions on the other. ends of said coaxial it and said abutment said large ball bearing, and shafts, a system of toothed wheels adapted to be a shoulder in the hub for supporting said smaller operated by \said last-named pinions, a means ball bearing.

under the control of the operator for stopping CORRADINO DASCANIO. 

